Computerized system and method for determining media based on selected motion video inputs

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are systems and methods for improving interactions with and between computers in content searching, generating, hosting and/or providing systems supported by or configured with personal computing devices, servers and/or platforms. The systems interact to identify and retrieve data within or across platforms, which can be used to improve the quality of data used in processing interactions between or among processors in such systems. The disclosed systems and methods provide systems and methods for automatically determining and suggesting media for a user based on a determined state of the user. The state determination of a user is based on user input respective to media representing specific categories of moods.

This application includes material that is subject to copyrightprotection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimilereproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in thePatent and Trademark Office files or records, but otherwise reserves allcopyright rights whatsoever.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to improving the performance ofcontent searching, generating, providing and/or hosting computer systemsand/or platforms by modifying the capabilities and providing non-nativefunctionality to such systems and/or platforms for automaticallydetermining and communicating media to a user based on a statedetermination of the user.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides systems and methods for improved mediadistribution to users based on a state determination of a user viainteraction with a specific user interface having a distinct look andfeel, running as an application on a user device. According to someembodiments, the state determination of a user, which involves thedetermination of the user's current feelings or emotions, is based onanalysis of a user's interactions with displayed state media items whichmay be static or animated icons, each icon representing differentpossible user state. In embodiments the animated icon can be a shortmovie trailer excerpt. For example, state categories can include, butare not limited to, media associated with emotions or moods. For examplea person can select a movie that is associated with feelings or emotionsor moods such as happy, sad, adventurous, romantic, nostalgic, horrificand the like. Upon the user being presented with the icons, the user hasthe ability to select a specific state through selection of a particularicon. Based on such selection, a search is performed at one or moremedia sources for media that relates to or is associated with theselected icon and a media listing of possible media items associatedwith the state represented by the selected icon is provided to the user.The media listing comprises media information corresponding to mediathat relates to the selected state—that is, media that has contentrelated to the selected emotion. The icons can then be presented againfor further or alternate state refinement if a media item is notselected for consumption. Once selected the media item can be presentedon the device in an application native to the source of the selectedmedia item via deep linking from the instant user interface.

It will be recognized from the disclosure herein that embodiments of theinstant disclosure provide improvements to a number of technology areas,for example those related to systems and processes that handle orprocess video recommendations, such as but not limited to, searchengines, local and/or web-based applications, e-mail or other types ofmedia rendering or recommendation platforms, electronic socialnetworking platforms and the like. The disclosed systems and methods caneffectuate increased speed and efficiency in ways users can access newmedia content, in addition to an increased contextual relevancy per userregarding the media provided to a user, thereby reducing user effort, asthe disclosed systems and methods, inter alia, reduce the amount ofrequired input for a user upon searching for media to view. Users willbe provided a more fluid and personalized experience through thedisclosed systems and methods leveraging of information about a user'semotional state which will enable the user to avoid having to provideall, if any, aspects of desired/requested information.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, a method is disclosed whichincludes displaying, on a display of a computing device within a firstportion of a displayed user interface (UI), a first set of state mediaitems, each state media item visibly displaying content associated witha human mood; receiving, at the computing device from a user, aselection of a state media item from the first state media item set;determining, via the computing device, a feature vector for the selectedstate media item, the feature vector comprising an n-dimensional vectorrepresenting the mood content; communicating, via the computing device,a search request for media to a media repository based on the determinedfeature vector, wherein the feature vector is comprised in a search termfor identifying media associated with the user within the mediarepository; receiving, at the computing device, a search resultcomprising media information associated with user; compiling, via thecomputing device, a media item presentation based on the search result;and displaying, by the computing device, the media item presentation ina second portion of the UI.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium is provided, the non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium tangibly storing thereon, or havingtangibly encoded thereon, computer readable instructions that whenexecuted cause at least one processor to perform a method forautomatically determining and recommending media for a user based on astate determination of the user.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, a system is provided thatcomprises one or more computing devices configured to providefunctionality in accordance with such embodiments. In accordance withone or more embodiments, functionality is embodied in steps of a methodperformed by at least one computing device. In accordance with one ormore embodiments, program code (or program logic) executed by aprocessor(s) of a computing device to implement functionality inaccordance with one or more such embodiments is embodied in, by and/oron a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of thedisclosure will be apparent from the following description ofembodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichreference characters refer to the same parts throughout the variousviews. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead beingplaced upon illustrating principles of the disclosure:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a networkwithin which the systems and methods disclosed herein could beimplemented according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 depicts is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of clientdevice in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating components of anexemplary system in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating steps performed in accordance withsome embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 5A-5B illustrate non-limiting examples of user interfaces inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating steps performed in accordance withsome embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating the architecture of an exemplaryhardware device in accordance with one or more embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, andwhich show, by way of illustration, certain example embodiments. Subjectmatter may, however, be embodied in a variety of different forms and,therefore, covered or claimed subject matter is intended to be construedas not being limited to any example embodiments set forth herein;example embodiments are provided merely to be illustrative. Likewise, areasonably broad scope for claimed or covered subject matter isintended. Among other things, for example, subject matter may beembodied as methods, devices, components, or systems. Accordingly,embodiments may, for example, take the form of hardware, software,firmware or any combination thereof (other than software per se). Thefollowing detailed description is, therefore, not intended to be takenin a limiting sense.

Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meaningssuggested or implied in context beyond an explicitly stated meaning.Likewise, the phrase “in one embodiment” as used herein does notnecessarily refer to the same embodiment and the phrase “in anotherembodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to a differentembodiment. It is intended, for example, that claimed subject matterinclude combinations of example embodiments in whole or in part.

In general, terminology may be understood at least in part from usage incontext. For example, terms, such as “and”, “or”, or “and/or,” as usedherein may include a variety of meanings that may depend at least inpart upon the context in which such terms are used. Typically, “or” ifused to associate a list, such as A, B or C, is intended to mean A, B,and C, here used in the inclusive sense, as well as A, B or C, here usedin the exclusive sense. In addition, the term “one or more” as usedherein, depending at least in part upon context, may be used to describeany feature, structure, or characteristic in a singular sense or may beused to describe combinations of features, structures or characteristicsin a plural sense. Similarly, terms, such as “a,” “an,” or “the,” again,may be understood to convey a singular usage or to convey a pluralusage, depending at least in part upon context. In addition, the term“based on” may be understood as not necessarily intended to convey anexclusive set of factors and may, instead, allow for existence ofadditional factors not necessarily expressly described, again, dependingat least in part on context.

The present disclosure is described below with reference to blockdiagrams and operational illustrations of methods and devices. It isunderstood that each block of the block diagrams or operationalillustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams oroperational illustrations, can be implemented by means of analog ordigital hardware and computer program instructions. These computerprogram instructions can be provided to a processor of a general purposecomputer to alter its function as detailed herein, a special purposecomputer, ASIC, or other programmable data processing apparatus, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, implement thefunctions/acts specified in the block diagrams or operational block orblocks. In some alternate implementations, the functions/acts noted inthe blocks can occur out of the order noted in the operationalillustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession can in factbe executed substantially concurrently or the blocks can sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/actsinvolved.

These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of: ageneral purpose computer to alter its function to a special purpose; aspecial purpose computer; ASIC; or other programmable digital dataprocessing apparatus, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, implement the functions/acts specified in the block diagramsor operational block or blocks, thereby transforming their functionalityin accordance with embodiments herein.

For the purposes of this disclosure a computer readable medium (orcomputer-readable storage medium/media) stores computer data, which datacan include computer program code (or computer-executable instructions)that is executable by a computer, in machine readable form. By way ofexample, and not limitation, a computer readable medium may comprisecomputer readable storage media, for tangible or fixed storage of data,or communication media for transient interpretation of code-containingsignals. Computer readable storage media, as used herein, refers tophysical or tangible storage (as opposed to signals) and includeswithout limitation volatile and non-volatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for thetangible storage of information such as computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other data. Computer readablestorage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM,flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, DVD, orother optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other physical ormaterial medium which can be used to tangibly store the desiredinformation or data or instructions and which can be accessed by acomputer or processor.

For the purposes of this disclosure the term “server” should beunderstood to refer to a service point which provides processing,database, and communication facilities. By way of example, and notlimitation, the term “server” can refer to a single, physical processorwith associated communications and data storage and database facilities,or it can refer to a networked or clustered complex of processors andassociated network and storage devices, as well as operating softwareand one or more database systems and application software that supportthe services provided by the server. Servers may vary widely inconfiguration or capabilities, but generally a server may include one ormore central processing units and memory. A server may also include oneor more mass storage devices, one or more power supplies, one or morewired or wireless network interfaces, one or more input/outputinterfaces, or one or more operating systems, such as Windows Server,Mac OS X, Unix, Linux, FreeBSD, or the like.

For the purposes of this disclosure a “network” should be understood torefer to a network that may couple devices so that communications may beexchanged, such as between a server and a client device or other typesof devices, including between wireless devices coupled via a wirelessnetwork, for example. A network may also include mass storage, such asnetwork attached storage (NAS), a storage area network (SAN), or otherforms of computer or machine readable media, for example. A network mayinclude the Internet, one or more local area networks (LANs), one ormore wide area networks (WANs), wire-line type connections, wirelesstype connections, cellular or any combination thereof. Likewise,sub-networks, which may employ differing architectures or may becompliant or compatible with differing protocols, may interoperatewithin a larger network. Various types of devices may, for example, bemade available to provide an interoperable capability for differingarchitectures or protocols. As one illustrative example, a router mayprovide a link between otherwise separate and independent LANs.

A communication link or channel may include, for example, analogtelephone lines, such as a twisted wire pair, a coaxial cable, full orfractional digital lines including T1, T2, T3, or T4 type lines,Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDNs), Digital Subscriber Lines(DSLs), wireless links including satellite links, or other communicationlinks or channels, such as may be known to those skilled in the art.Furthermore, a computing device or other related electronic devices maybe remotely coupled to a network, such as via a wired or wireless lineor link, for example.

For purposes of this disclosure, a “wireless network” should beunderstood to couple client devices with a network. A wireless networkmay employ stand-alone ad-hoc networks, mesh networks, Wireless LAN(WLAN) networks, cellular networks, or the like. A wireless network mayfurther include a system of terminals, gateways, routers, or the likecoupled by wireless radio links, or the like, which may move freely,randomly or organize themselves arbitrarily, such that network topologymay change, at times even rapidly.

A wireless network may further employ a plurality of network accesstechnologies, including Wi-Fi, Long Term Evolution (LTE), WLAN, WirelessRouter (WR) mesh, or 2nd, 3rd, or 4th generation (2G, 3G, or 4G)cellular technology, or the like. Network access technologies may enablewide area coverage for devices, such as client devices with varyingdegrees of mobility, for example.

For example, a network may enable RF or wireless type communication viaone or more network access technologies, such as Global System forMobile communication (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS), General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSMEnvironment (EDGE), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced,Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n,or the like. A wireless network may include virtually any type ofwireless communication mechanism by which signals may be communicatedbetween devices, such as a client device or a computing device, betweenor within a network, or the like.

A computing device may be capable of sending or receiving signals, suchas via a wired or wireless network, or may be capable of processing orstoring signals, such as in memory as physical memory states, and may,therefore, operate as a server. Thus, devices capable of operating as aserver may include, as examples, dedicated rack-mounted servers, desktopcomputers, laptop computers, set top boxes, integrated devices combiningvarious features, such as two or more features of the foregoing devices,or the like. Servers may vary widely in configuration or capabilities,but generally a server may include one or more central processing unitsand memory. A server may also include one or more mass storage devices,one or more power supplies, one or more wired or wireless networkinterfaces, one or more input/output interfaces, or one or moreoperating systems, such as Windows Server, Mac OS X, Unix, Linux,FreeBSD, or the like.

For purposes of this disclosure, a client (or consumer or user) devicemay include a computing device capable of sending or receiving signals,such as via a wired or a wireless network. A client device may, forexample, include a desktop computer or a portable device, such as acellular telephone, a smart phone, a display pager, a radio frequency(RF) device, an infrared (IR) device an Near Field Communication (NFC)device, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld computer, atablet computer, a phablet, a laptop computer, a set top box, a wearablecomputer, smart watch, an integrated or distributed device combiningvarious features, such as features of the forgoing devices, or the like.

A client device may vary in terms of capabilities or features. Claimedsubject matter is intended to cover a wide range of potentialvariations. For example, a simple smart phone, phablet or tablet mayinclude a numeric keypad or a display of limited functionality, such asa monochrome liquid crystal display (LCD) for displaying text. Incontrast, however, as another example, a web-enabled client device mayinclude a high-resolution screen, one or more physical or virtualkeyboards, mass storage, one or more accelerometers, one or moregyroscopes, global positioning system (GPS) or otherlocation-identifying type capability, or a display with a high degree offunctionality, such as a touch-sensitive color 2D or 3D display, forexample.

A client device may include or may execute a variety of operatingsystems, including a personal computer operating system, such as aWindows, iOS or Linux, or a mobile operating system, such as iOS,Android, or Windows Mobile, or the like.

A client device may include or may execute a variety of possibleapplications, such as a client software application enablingcommunication with other devices, such as communicating one or moremessages, such as via email, for example Yahoo!® Mail, short messageservice (SMS), or multimedia message service (MMS), for example Yahoo!Messenger®, including via a network, such as a social network,including, for example, Tumblr®, Facebook®, LinkedIn®, Twitter®,Flickr®, or Google+®, Instagram™, to provide only a few possibleexamples. A client device may also include or execute an application tocommunicate content, such as, for example, textual content, multimediacontent, or the like. A client device may also include or execute anapplication to perform a variety of possible tasks, such as browsing,searching, playing or displaying various forms of content, includinglocally stored or streamed video, or games (such as fantasy sportsleagues). The foregoing is provided to illustrate that claimed subjectmatter is intended to include a wide range of possible features orcapabilities.

The principles described herein may be embodied in many different forms.By way of background, conventional media recommendation systems attemptthe solve the “What to watch?” problem for users by having a user labelwhat he/she desires to watch based on a text or browse listing ofgenres. Such techniques provide a limited static and archaic methodologythat only enables the user's the ability to select media according topredefined listings set by media providers and/or those parties thatcreated the media (e.g., movie studios).

The disclosed systems and methods remedy shortcomings in the art andprovide an improved media recommendation system and/or platform thatenables users' the ability to receive media recommendations based on adetermination as to the user's current feelings or emotions. The instantdisclosure provides systems and methods for automatic determination ofmedia to be recommended to a user based on a state determination of auser. According to some embodiments, the state determination of a user,which involves the determination of the user's current feelings oremotions, is based on analysis of a user's selection of one or moredisplayed media items that represent categories of a user's state. Forexample, state categories can include, but are not limited to,happiness, sadness, adventure, and the like. Thus, upon the user beingpresented with displayed media representing a specific set of states,the user has the ability to select a specific state through user inputthat identifies a particularly displayed media item. Based on suchselection, a search is performed for media that relates to the selectedmedia item and a media listing is provided to the user. The medialisting comprises media information corresponding to media that relatesto the selected state. In other words, for example, all of therecommended media relates to the selected state the user identified inhis/her selection from the set of displayed media items.

By way of a non-limiting example, in accordance with the exampleillustrated in FIG. 5B, within user interface (UI) 500, the user ispresented with a listing of media items that correspond to particularstates (i.e., emotions or states)—items 502 a-508 a. According to someembodiments, the display of the listed media items appears in a bottomportion (or pane) 500 b of the UI 500, as illustrated in FIG. 5B. Inthis example, the listed media items each correspond to a specificstate. For example, item 502 a represents “romance”; item 504 arepresents “frightened”; item 506 a represents “tension”; and item 508represents “love.” As discussed in more detail below, each displayedmedia item (items 502 a-508 a) displays a representation of theassociated emotion/state. For example, item 502 a which represents“romance” displays content of two people kissing. In another example,item 504 a which represents “frightened” can display content from aknown horror movie (for example, the shower scene in the movie“Psycho”). In yet another example, item 506 a which represents “tension”can display content of a person holding a gun to his/her head; and, item508 a which represents “love” can display content of an animatedscripting of the word “love”.

Continuing with the example, the user can then select one or more of thedisplayed media items. For example, should the user select items 502 aand 508 a, a search will be performed for media content that correspondsto both “romance” and “love”. Thus, the user can be presented with amedia content listing of “romantic-comedy” movies—because romanticcomedies have content related to both romance and love. In anotherexample, the user selects item 506 a related to “tension”; as a result,a search for media content is performed for content related to “tension”and the user is presented with a media content listing ofaction/adventure movies—which can include, for example, “Indiana Jones”,“Star Wars”, “Lord of the Rings” and the like.

An example of the search results discussed in the example illustrated inFIG. 5B—referred to as the media content listings or recommendationlisting—is identified by item 510. The listing 510 can be displayed inportion 500 a of UI 500. The listing can comprise, for example, icons orother visual representations for each identified media, as illustratedin portion 500 a of FIG. 5B. For example, using the “tension” search asan example, an icon can be displayed for each identified movie, wherethe cover art for each movie can be displayed. In another example, item510 may comprise a listing of the title of each recommended movie, wherethe title is a click-able icon that enables the user the view additionalinformation about the movie and/or view the movie via a deep-linkingfeature associated with the displayed video information.

According to some embodiments, as discussed in more detail below withrespect to FIG. 4, the systems and methods discussed herein can beperformed again (i.e., recursively) upon a display of the recommendationlisting (item 510). For example, utilizing FIG. 5B again, upondisplaying the “tension” movies: “Indiana Jones”, “Star Wars”, “Lord ofthe Rings” and the like, as discussed above in portion 500 a of UI 500,the user can then be presented with a refined set of media items. Thatis, the previous media items 502 a-508 a can be replaced or updated withnew content associated with sub-states (i.e., emotions that fall underthe larger umbrella of emotions previously listed).

For example, the user above selected “tension”. Thus, items 502 a-508 acan now display sub-states from a “tension” hierarchy. For example, upondisplaying listing 510, item 502 a may now display content related to“action”, item 504 a may now display content related to “rise-and-fall”,item 506 a may now display content related to “angriness”, and item 508a may now display content related to “nostalgia”. The “action”,“rise-and-fall”, “angriness” and “nostalgia” are all non-limitingexamples of sub-states of the “tension” state. Therefore, upon the userselecting another item from portion 500 b after listing 510 isdisplayed, another search can be performed which further refines the“tension” state-category based on the associated state of the selectedmedia item 502 a-508 a.

The displayed state media items (referred to as items 502 a-508 a inFIG. 5B) represent a user emotion and can take the form of a contentitem including, but not limited to, an image, video, looping video(e.g., graphics interchange format (GIF) file), text, audio, and/or anyother type of known or to be known multi-media format. Thus, thedisclosed systems and methods can be implemented via displayed mediaitems (items 502 a-508 a, or the items listed in listing 510) of anytype, including, but not limited to, video, audio, images, text, and/orany other type of multimedia content. While the discussion herein willfocus on video content items, it should not be construed as limiting, asany type of content or multimedia content, whether known or to be known,can be utilized without departing from the scope of the instantdisclosure. Thus, in another example, a displayed state media item(e.g., item 502 a) can display “happiness” via a video content itemshowing a person laughing—for example, a GIF of a user laughing.

As discussed in more detail below at least in relation to FIG. 6,according to some embodiments, information associated with or derivedfrom recommended media, selected and/or rendered media, as discussedherein, can be used for monetization purposes and targeted advertisingwhen providing, delivering or enabling access to therecommended/selected media. Providing targeted advertising to usersassociated with such discovered content can lead to an increasedclick-through rate (CTR) of such ads and/or an increase in theadvertiser's return on investment (ROI) for serving such contentprovided by third parties (e.g., digital advertisement content providedby an advertiser, where the advertiser can be a third party advertiser,or an entity directly associated with or hosting the systems and methodsdiscussed herein).

Certain embodiments will now be described in greater detail withreference to the figures. In general, with reference to FIG. 1, a system100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.FIG. 1 shows components of a general environment in which the systemsand methods discussed herein may be practiced. Not all the componentsmay be required to practice the disclosure, and variations in thearrangement and type of the components may be made without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the disclosure. As shown, system 100 of FIG.1 includes local area networks (“LANs”)/wide area networks(“WANs”)—network 105, wireless network 110, mobile devices (clientdevices) 102-104 and client device 101. FIG. 1 additionally includes avariety of servers, such as content server 106, application (or “App”)server 108, search server 120 and advertising (“ad”) server 130.

One embodiment of mobile devices 102-104 is described in more detailbelow. Generally, however, mobile devices 102-104 may include virtuallyany portable computing device capable of receiving and sending a messageover a network, such as network 105, wireless network 110, or the like.Mobile devices 102-104 may also be described generally as client devicesthat are configured to be portable. Thus, mobile devices 102-104 mayinclude virtually any portable computing device capable of connecting toanother computing device and receiving information. Such devices includemulti-touch and portable devices such as, cellular telephones, smartphones, display pagers, radio frequency (RF) devices, infrared (IR)devices, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), handheld computers, laptopcomputers, wearable computers, smart watch, tablet computers, phablets,integrated devices combining one or more of the preceding devices, andthe like. As such, mobile devices 102-104 typically range widely interms of capabilities and features. For example, a cell phone may have anumeric keypad and a few lines of monochrome LCD display on which onlytext may be displayed. In another example, a web-enabled mobile devicemay have a touch sensitive screen, a stylus, and an HD display in whichboth text and graphics may be displayed.

A web-enabled mobile device may include a browser application that isconfigured to receive and to send web pages, web-based messages, and thelike. The browser application may be configured to receive and displaygraphics, text, multimedia, and the like, employing virtually any webbased language, including a wireless application protocol messages(WAP), and the like. In one embodiment, the browser application isenabled to employ Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML), WirelessMarkup Language (WML), WMLScript, JavaScript, Standard GeneralizedMarkup Language (SMGL), HyperText Markup Language (HTML), eXtensibleMarkup Language (XML), and the like, to display and send a message.

Mobile devices 102-104 also may include at least one client applicationthat is configured to receive content from another computing device. Theclient application may include a capability to provide and receivetextual content, graphical content, audio content, and the like. Theclient application may further provide information that identifiesitself, including a type, capability, name, and the like. In oneembodiment, mobile devices 102-104 may uniquely identify themselvesthrough any of a variety of mechanisms, including a phone number, MobileIdentification Number (MIN), an electronic serial number (ESN), or othermobile device identifier.

In some embodiments, mobile devices 102-104 may also communicate withnon-mobile client devices, such as client device 101, or the like. Inone embodiment, such communications may include sending and/or receivingmessages, searching for, viewing and/or sharing photographs, audioclips, video clips, or any of a variety of other forms ofcommunications. Client device 101 may include virtually any computingdevice capable of communicating over a network to send and receiveinformation. The set of such devices may include devices that typicallyconnect using a wired or wireless communications medium such as personalcomputers, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, or the like. Thus, client device 101may also have differing capabilities for displaying navigable views ofinformation.

Client devices 101-104 computing device may be capable of sending orreceiving signals, such as via a wired or wireless network, or may becapable of processing or storing signals, such as in memory as physicalmemory states, and may, therefore, operate as a server. Thus, devicescapable of operating as a server may include, as examples, dedicatedrack-mounted servers, desktop computers, laptop computers, set topboxes, integrated devices combining various features, such as two ormore features of the foregoing devices, or the like.

Wireless network 110 is configured to couple mobile devices 102-104 andits components with network 105. Wireless network 110 may include any ofa variety of wireless sub-networks that may further overlay stand-alonead-hoc networks, and the like, to provide an infrastructure-orientedconnection for mobile devices 102-104. Such sub-networks may includemesh networks, Wireless LAN (WLAN) networks, cellular networks, and thelike.

Network 105 is configured to couple content server 106, applicationserver 108, or the like, with other computing devices, including, clientdevice 101, and through wireless network 110 to mobile devices 102-104.Network 105 is enabled to employ any form of computer readable media forcommunicating information from one electronic device to another. Also,network 105 can include the Internet in addition to local area networks(LANs), wide area networks (WANs), direct connections, such as through auniversal serial bus (USB) port, other forms of computer-readable media,or any combination thereof. On an interconnected set of LANs, includingthose based on differing architectures and protocols, a router acts as alink between LANs, enabling messages to be sent from one to another,and/or other computing devices.

Within the communications networks utilized or understood to beapplicable to the present disclosure, such networks will employ variousprotocols that are used for communication over the network. Signalpackets communicated via a network, such as a network of participatingdigital communication networks, may be compatible with or compliant withone or more protocols. Signaling formats or protocols employed mayinclude, for example, TCP/IP, UDP, QUIC (Quick UDP Internet Connection),DECnet, NetBEUI, IPX, APPLETALK™, or the like. Versions of the InternetProtocol (IP) may include IPv4 or IPv6. The Internet refers to adecentralized global network of networks. The Internet includes localarea networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), wireless networks, orlong haul public networks that, for example, allow signal packets to becommunicated between LANs. Signal packets may be communicated betweennodes of a network, such as, for example, to one or more sites employinga local network address. A signal packet may, for example, becommunicated over the Internet from a user site via an access nodecoupled to the Internet. Likewise, a signal packet may be forwarded vianetwork nodes to a target site coupled to the network via a networkaccess node, for example. A signal packet communicated via the Internetmay, for example, be routed via a path of gateways, servers, etc. thatmay route the signal packet in accordance with a target address andavailability of a network path to the target address.

According to some embodiments, the present disclosure may also beutilized within or accessible to an electronic social networking site. Asocial network refers generally to an electronic network of individuals,such as acquaintances, friends, family, colleagues, or co-workers, thatare coupled via a communications network or via a variety ofsub-networks. Potentially, additional relationships may subsequently beformed as a result of social interaction via the communications networkor sub-networks. In some embodiments, multi-modal communications mayoccur between members of the social network. Individuals within one ormore social networks may interact or communication with other members ofa social network via a variety of devices. Multi-modal communicationtechnologies refers to a set of technologies that permit interoperablecommunication across multiple devices or platforms, such as cell phones,smart phones, tablet computing devices, phablets, personal computers,televisions, set-top boxes, SMS/MMS, email, instant messenger clients,forums, social networking sites, or the like.

In some embodiments, the disclosed networks 110 and/or 105 may comprisea content distribution network(s). A “content delivery network” or“content distribution network” (CDN) generally refers to a distributedcontent delivery system that comprises a collection of computers orcomputing devices linked by a network or networks. A CDN may employsoftware, systems, protocols or techniques to facilitate variousservices, such as storage, caching, communication of content, orstreaming media or applications. A CDN may also enable an entity tooperate or manage another's site infrastructure, in whole or in part.

The content server 106 may include a device that includes aconfiguration to provide content via a network to another device. Acontent server 106 may, for example, host a site or service, such asstreaming media site/service (e.g., Netflix®), an email platform orsocial networking site, or a personal user site (such as a blog, vlog,online dating site, and the like). A content server 106 may also host avariety of other sites, including, but not limited to business sites,educational sites, dictionary sites, encyclopedia sites, wikis,financial sites, government sites, and the like. Devices that mayoperate as content server 106 include personal computers desktopcomputers, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, servers, and the like.

Content server 106 can further provide a variety of services thatinclude, but are not limited to, streaming and/or downloading mediaservices, search services, email services, photo services, web services,social networking services, news services, third-party services, audioservices, video services, instant messaging (IM) services, SMS services,MMS services, FTP services, voice over IP (VOIP) services, or the like.Such services, for example a video application and/or video platform,can be provided via the application server 108, whereby a user is ableto utilize such service upon the user being authenticated, verified oridentified by the service. Examples of content may include images, text,audio, video, or the like, which may be processed in the form ofphysical signals, such as electrical signals, for example, or may bestored in memory, as physical states, for example.

An ad server 130 comprises a server that stores online advertisementsfor presentation to users. “Ad serving” refers to methods used to placeonline advertisements on websites, in applications, or other placeswhere users are more likely to see them, such as during an onlinesession or during computing platform use, for example. Variousmonetization techniques or models may be used in connection withsponsored advertising, including advertising associated with user. Suchsponsored advertising includes monetization techniques includingsponsored search advertising, non-sponsored search advertising,guaranteed and non-guaranteed delivery advertising, adnetworks/exchanges, ad targeting, ad serving and ad analytics. Suchsystems can incorporate near instantaneous auctions of ad placementopportunities during web page creation, (in some cases in less than 500milliseconds) with higher quality ad placement opportunities resultingin higher revenues per ad. That is advertisers will pay higheradvertising rates when they believe their ads are being placed in oralong with highly relevant content that is being presented to users.Reductions in the time needed to quantify a high quality ad placementoffers ad platforms competitive advantages. Thus higher speeds and morerelevant context detection improve these technological fields.

For example, a process of buying or selling online advertisements mayinvolve a number of different entities, including advertisers,publishers, agencies, networks, or developers. To simplify this process,organization systems called “ad exchanges” may associate advertisers orpublishers, such as via a platform to facilitate buying or selling ofonline advertisement inventory from multiple ad networks. “Ad networks”refers to aggregation of ad space supply from publishers, such as forprovision en masse to advertisers. For web portals like Yahoo!®,advertisements may be displayed on web pages or in apps resulting from auser-defined search based at least in part upon one or more searchterms. Advertising may be beneficial to users, advertisers or webportals if displayed advertisements are relevant to interests of one ormore users. Thus, a variety of techniques have been developed to inferuser interest, user intent or to subsequently target relevantadvertising to users. One approach to presenting targeted advertisementsincludes employing demographic characteristics (e.g., age, income, sex,occupation, etc.) for predicting user behavior, such as by group.Advertisements may be presented to users in a targeted audience based atleast in part upon predicted user behavior(s).

Another approach includes profile-type ad targeting. In this approach,user profiles specific to a user may be generated to model userbehavior, for example, by tracking a user's path through a web site ornetwork of sites, and compiling a profile based at least in part onpages or advertisements ultimately delivered. A correlation may beidentified, such as for user purchases, for example. An identifiedcorrelation may be used to target potential purchasers by targetingcontent or advertisements to particular users. During presentation ofadvertisements, a presentation system may collect descriptive contentabout types of advertisements presented to users. A broad range ofdescriptive content may be gathered, including content specific to anadvertising presentation system. Advertising analytics gathered may betransmitted to locations remote to an advertising presentation systemfor storage or for further evaluation. Where advertising analyticstransmittal is not immediately available, gathered advertising analyticsmay be stored by an advertising presentation system until transmittal ofthose advertising analytics becomes available.

Servers 106, 108, 120 and 130 may be capable of sending or receivingsignals, such as via a wired or wireless network, or may be capable ofprocessing or storing signals, such as in memory as physical memorystates. Devices capable of operating as a server may include, asexamples, dedicated rack-mounted servers, desktop computers, laptopcomputers, set top boxes, integrated devices combining various features,such as two or more features of the foregoing devices, or the like.Servers may vary widely in configuration or capabilities, but generally,a server may include one or more central processing units and memory. Aserver may also include one or more mass storage devices, one or morepower supplies, one or more wired or wireless network interfaces, one ormore input/output interfaces, or one or more operating systems, such asWindows Server, Mac OS X, Unix, Linux, FreeBSD, or the like.

In some embodiments, users are able to access services provided byservers 106, 108, 120 and/or 130. This may include in a non-limitingexample, authentication servers, search servers, email servers, socialnetworking services servers, SMS servers, IM servers, MMS servers,exchange servers, photo-sharing services servers, and travel servicesservers, via the network 105 using their various devices 101-104. Insome embodiments, applications, such as a streaming video application(e.g., Netflix®, Hulu®, iTunes®, Amazon Prime®, HBO Go®, and the like),blog, photo storage/sharing application or social networking application(e.g., Flickr®, Tumblr®, and the like), can be hosted by the applicationserver 108 (or content server 106, search server 120 and the like).Thus, the application server 108 can store various types of applicationsand application related information including application data and userprofile information (e.g., identifying and behavioral informationassociated with a user). It should also be understood that contentserver 106 can also store various types of data related to the contentand services provided by content server 106 in an associated contentdatabase 107, as discussed in more detail below. Embodiments exist wherethe network 105 is also coupled with/connected to a Trusted SearchServer (TSS) which can be utilized to render content in accordance withthe embodiments discussed herein. Embodiments exist where the TSSfunctionality can be embodied within servers 106, 108, 120 and/or 130.

Moreover, although FIG. 1 illustrates servers 106, 108, 120 and 130 assingle computing devices, respectively, the disclosure is not solimited. For example, one or more functions of servers 106, 108, 120and/or 130 may be distributed across one or more distinct computingdevices. Moreover, in one embodiment, servers 106, 108, 120 and/or 130may be integrated into a single computing device, without departing fromthe scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a client device showing anexample embodiment of a client device that may be used within thepresent disclosure. Client device 200 may include many more or lesscomponents than those shown in FIG. 2. However, the components shown aresufficient to disclose an illustrative embodiment for implementing thepresent disclosure. Client device 200 may represent, for example, clientdevices discussed above in relation to FIG. 1.

As shown in the figure, Client device 200 includes a processing unit(CPU) 222 in communication with a mass memory 230 via a bus 224. Clientdevice 200 also includes a power supply 226, one or more networkinterfaces 250, an audio interface 252, a display 254, a keypad 256, anilluminator 258, an input/output interface 260, a haptic interface 262,an optional global positioning systems (GPS) receiver 264 and acamera(s) or other optical, thermal or electromagnetic sensors 266.Device 200 can include one camera/sensor 266, or a plurality ofcameras/sensors 266, as understood by those of skill in the art. Thepositioning of the camera(s)/sensor(s) 266 on device 200 can change perdevice 200 model, per device 200 capabilities, and the like, or somecombination thereof

Power supply 226 provides power to Client device 200. A rechargeable ornon-rechargeable battery may be used to provide power. The power mayalso be provided by an external power source, such as an AC adapter or apowered docking cradle that supplements and/or recharges a battery.

Client device 200 may optionally communicate with a base station (notshown), or directly with another computing device. Network interface 250includes circuitry for coupling Client device 200 to one or morenetworks, and is constructed for use with one or more communicationprotocols and technologies as discussed above. Network interface 250 issometimes known as a transceiver, transceiving device, or networkinterface card (NIC).

Audio interface 252 is arranged to produce and receive audio signalssuch as the sound of a human voice. For example, audio interface 252 maybe coupled to a speaker and microphone (not shown) to enabletelecommunication with others and/or generate an audio acknowledgementfor some action. Display 254 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), gasplasma, light emitting diode (LED), or any other type of display usedwith a computing device. Display 254 may also include a touch sensitivescreen arranged to receive input from an object such as a stylus or adigit from a human hand.

Keypad 256 may comprise any input device arranged to receive input froma user. For example, keypad 256 may include a push button numeric dial,or a keyboard. Keypad 256 may also include command buttons that areassociated with selecting and sending images. Illuminator 258 mayprovide a status indication and/or provide light. Illuminator 258 mayremain active for specific periods of time or in response to events. Forexample, when illuminator 258 is active, it may backlight the buttons onkeypad 256 and stay on while the client device is powered. Also,illuminator 258 may backlight these buttons in various patterns whenparticular actions are performed, such as dialing another client device.Illuminator 258 may also cause light sources positioned within atransparent or translucent case of the client device to illuminate inresponse to actions.

Client device 200 also comprises input/output interface 260 forcommunicating with external devices, such as a headset, or other inputor output devices not shown in FIG. 2. Input/output interface 260 canutilize one or more communication technologies, such as USB, infrared,Bluetooth™, or the like. Haptic interface 262 is arranged to providetactile feedback to a user of the client device. For example, the hapticinterface may be employed to vibrate client device 200 in a particularway when the Client device 200 receives a communication from anotheruser.

Optional GPS transceiver 264 can determine the physical coordinates ofClient device 200 on the surface of the Earth, which typically outputs alocation as latitude and longitude values. GPS transceiver 264 can alsoemploy other geo-positioning mechanisms, including, but not limited to,triangulation, assisted GPS (AGPS), E-OTD, CI, SAI, ETA, BSS or thelike, to further determine the physical location of Client device 200 onthe surface of the Earth. It is understood that under differentconditions, GPS transceiver 264 can determine a physical location withinmillimeters for Client device 200; and in other cases, the determinedphysical location may be less precise, such as within a meter orsignificantly greater distances. In one embodiment, however, Clientdevice may through other components, provide other information that maybe employed to determine a physical location of the device, includingfor example, a MAC address, Internet Protocol (IP) address, or the like.

Mass memory 230 includes a RAM 232, a ROM 234, and other storage means.Mass memory 230 illustrates another example of computer storage mediafor storage of information such as computer readable instructions, datastructures, program modules or other data. Mass memory 230 stores abasic input/output system (“BIOS”) 240 for controlling low-leveloperation of Client device 200. The mass memory also stores an operatingsystem 241 for controlling the operation of Client device 200. It willbe appreciated that this component may include a general purposeoperating system such as a version of UNIX, or LINUX™, or a specializedclient communication operating system such as Windows Client™, or theSymbian® operating system. The operating system may include, orinterface with a Java virtual machine module that enables control ofhardware components and/or operating system operations via Javaapplication programs.

Memory 230 further includes one or more data stores, which can beutilized by Client device 200 to store, among other things, applications242 and/or other data. For example, data stores may be employed to storeinformation that describes various capabilities of Client device 200.The information may then be provided to another device based on any of avariety of events, including being sent as part of a header during acommunication, sent upon request, or the like. At least a portion of thecapability information may also be stored on a disk drive or otherstorage medium (not shown) within Client device 300.

Applications 242 may include computer executable instructions which,when executed by Client device 200, transmit, receive, and/or otherwiseprocess audio, video, images, and enable telecommunication with a serverand/or another user of another client device. Other examples ofapplication programs or “apps” in some embodiments include browsers,calendars, contact managers, task managers, transcoders, photomanagement, database programs, word processing programs, securityapplications, spreadsheet programs, games, search programs, and soforth. Applications 242 may further include search client 245 that isconfigured to send, to receive, and/or to otherwise process a searchquery and/or search result using any known or to be known communicationprotocols. Although a single search client 245 is illustrated it shouldbe clear that multiple search clients may be employed. For example, onesearch client may be configured to enter a search query message, whereanother search client manages search results, and yet another searchclient is configured to manage serving advertisements, IMs, emails, andother types of known messages, or the like.

Having described the components of the general architecture employedwithin the disclosed systems and methods, the components' generaloperation with respect to the disclosed systems and methods will now bedescribed below.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the components for performing thesystems and methods discussed herein. FIG. 3 includes a recommendationengine 300, network 315 and database 320. The recommendation engine 300can be a special purpose machine or processor and could be hosted by anapplication server, content server, social networking server, webserver, search server, content provider, email service provider, adserver, user's computing device, and the like, or any combinationthereof.

According to some embodiments, recommendation engine 300 can be embodiedas a stand-alone application that executes on a user device. In someembodiments, the recommendation engine 300 can function as anapplication installed on the user's device, and in some embodiments,such application can be a web-based application accessed by the userdevice over a network. In some embodiments, the recommendation engine300 can be installed as an augmenting script, program or application toanother media application (e.g., Yahoo!® Video, Netflix®, Hulu®, and thelike).

The database 320 can be any type of database or memory, and can beassociated with a content server on a network (e.g., content server 106,search server 120 or application server 108 from FIG. 1) or a user'sdevice (e.g., device 101-104 or device 200 from FIGS. 1-2). Database 320comprises a dataset of data and metadata associated with local and/ornetwork information related to users, services, applications, content(e.g., video) and the like. Such information can be stored and indexedin the database 320 independently and/or as a linked or associateddataset. As discussed above, it should be understood that the data (andmetadata) in the database 320 can be any type of information and type,whether known or to be known, without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure.

According to some embodiments, database 320 can store data for users,e.g., user data. According to some embodiments, the stored user data caninclude, but is not limited to, information associated with a user'sprofile, user interests, user behavioral information, user attributes,user preferences or settings, user demographic information, userlocation information, user biographic information, and the like, or somecombination thereof. In some embodiments, the user data can alsoinclude, for purposes rendering and/or delivering videos, user deviceinformation, including, but not limited to, device identifyinginformation, device capability information, voice/data carrierinformation, Internet Protocol (IP) address, applications installed orcapable of being installed or executed on such device, and/or any, orsome combination thereof. It should be understood that the data (andmetadata) in the database 320 can be any type of information related toa user, content, a device, an application, a service provider, a contentprovider, whether known or to be known, without departing from the scopeof the present disclosure.

According to some embodiments, database 320 can comprise informationassociated with video service providers, such as, but not limited to,media providers that stream, enable download or otherwise avail users tomedia content (e.g., HBO®, Netflix®, iTunes®, Yahoo!®, YouTube®,Amazon®, and the like). Database 320 can be a single database housinginformation associated with such providers, and in some embodiments,database 320 can be configured as a linked set of data stores thatprovides such information, as each datastore in the set is associatedwith and/or unique to a specific service provider.

Database 320 can comprise data and metadata associated with videocontent from an assortment of media providers. For example, theinformation can be related to, but not limited to, the title of thevideo, cast of the video, directors or other staff of the video, thecontent type of the video, a category associated with the video, genreof the video, and the like. Such information can be represented as ann-dimensional vector (or feature vector) for each video, where theinformation associated with the video corresponds to nodes on thevector. Additionally, the video information in database 320 for eachvideo can comprise, but is not limited to, factors including, but notlimited to, popularity of the video, quality of the video, recency, andthe like. Such factors can be derived from information provided by theuser, a service provider (i.e., Yahoo!®), by the content/serviceproviders providing video content (e.g., Netflix®, Hulu®, YouTube®), orby other third party services (e.g., rottentomatoes.com, IMDB™, and thelike), or some combination thereof. In some embodiments, such additionalfactors can also be translated as nodes on the n-dimensional vector fora respective video. As such, database 320 can store and index videoinformation in database 320 as linked set of video data and metadata,where the data and metadata relationship can be stored as then-dimensional vector discussed above. Such storage can be realizedthrough any known or to be known vector or array storage, including butnot limited to, a hash tree, queue, stack, VList, or any other type ofknown or to be known dynamic memory allocation technique or technology.

While the discussion herein will focus on vector analysis of videoinformation, as discussed above, the video information can be analyzed,stored and indexed according to any known or to be known computationalanalysis technique or algorithm, such as, but not limited to, clusteranalysis, data mining, Bayesian network analysis, Hidden Markov models,artificial neural network analysis, logical model and/or tree analysis,and the like.

For purposes of the present disclosure, as discussed above, videos(which are stored and located in database 320) as a whole are discussedwithin some embodiments; however, it should not be construed to limitthe applications of the systems and methods discussed herein. That is,while reference is made throughout the instant disclosure to videos(e.g., video clips, movies, music videos, radio broadcasts, podcasts, TVshows, YouTube® videos, Instagram® videos, Vine™ videos, and/or anyother type of streaming or downloadable media content), other forms ofuser generated content and associated information, including for exampletext, audio, multimedia, RSS feed information can be used withoutdeparting from the scope of the instant application, which can therebybe communicated and/or accessed and processed by the recommendationengine 300 according to the systems and methods discussed herein.

As discussed above, with reference to FIG. 1, the network 315 can be anytype of network such as, but not limited to, a wireless network, a localarea network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), the Internet, or acombination thereof. The network 315 facilitates connectivity of therecommendation engine 300, and the database of stored resources 320.Indeed, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the recommendation engine 300 anddatabase 320 can be directly connected by any known or to be knownmethod of connecting and/or enabling communication between such devicesand resources.

The principal processor, server, or combination of devices thatcomprises hardware programmed in accordance with the special purposefunctions herein is referred to for convenience as recommendation engine300, and includes popularity module 302, state module 304, search module306 and calibration module 308. It should be understood that theengine(s) and modules discussed herein are non-exhaustive, as additionalor fewer engines and/or modules (or sub-modules) may be applicable tothe embodiments of the systems and methods discussed. The operations,configurations and functionalities of each module, and their role withinembodiments of the present disclosure will be discussed with referenceto FIG. 4.

As discussed in more detail below, the information processed by therecommendation engine 300 can be supplied to the database 320 in orderto ensure that the information housed in the database 320 is up-to-dateas the disclosed systems and methods leverage real-time information,state, sentiment, and/or behavior associated with the user, as discussedin more detail below.

Turning to FIG. 4, Process 400 details steps performed in accordancewith exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure for automaticallyrecommending video content to a user based on the user's determinedstate (i.e., the user's current emotional state).

Process 400 begins with Step 402 where an initial set of videorecommendations is displayed to a user. According to some embodiments,Step 402 is based on a user's request to view video recommendations. Insome embodiments, such request can be based on a received selection froma user to “explore” a video library. In some embodiments, the requestcan occur periodically based on a predetermined period of time, wherebythe results of Process 400 can be cached for later retrieval by theuser. Such predetermined period of time can be set by the user, by thesystem, recommendation engine 300, a service or media provider, and thelike, or some combination thereof.

The displayed initial set of video recommendations is based on a numberof factors associated with video content that can include, but are notlimited to, popularity, quality and/or recency of the video content, oruser-specific preferences or prior ratings. Such factors can beidentified from database 320, as discussed above. For example, theinitial set of video recommendations can comprise a number of videosthat have a popularity score satisfying a popularity threshold. Forexample, only videos that have at least a 75% positive rating onrottentomatos.com are displayed to a user. Step 402 is performed by thepopularity module 302.

It should be understood, however, that while the example herein and themodule 302 refer to “popularity”, any factor can be utilized incombination or alternatively without departing from the scope of theinstant application. For example, the displayed set of initialrecommendations may include only those videos that have recently beenadded to the video library according to a temporal threshold—such as,for example, those videos added within the last week.

Upon display of the initial set of video recommendations, a selectableset of media items corresponding to a set of emotional states aredisplayed. Step 404, which is performed by the state module 304. Thesestate media items display content in the form of static or animatedicons or selectable areas on the user interface that represents specificemotional states, such as, but not limited to, happiness, sadness,adventure, rise-and-fall, love, romance, and the like. As discussedabove, the displayed state media items can take the form of a contentitem including, but not limited to, an image, video, looping video(e.g., graphics interchange format (GIF) file), text, audio, and/or anyother type of known or to be known multi-media format. In embodimentsthe images in the icons are selected portions of media items, such asaudio or video from a movie or a movie trailer. As mentioned above, thediscussion herein will reference the state media items comprising videocontent (e.g., looping video content such as a GIF); however it shouldnot be construed as limiting, as any type of content or multimediacontent, whether known or to be known, can be utilized without departingfrom the scope of the instant disclosure.

A non-limiting example of the displayed state media items can be seen inFIG. 5A, where a listing of four state media items is displayed: items502-508 representing “happiness”, “sadness”, “adventure” and “romance”,respectively. Thus, item 502 can display a video of a person laughing,item 504 can display a video of a person crying, item 506 can display avideo of a person zip-lining, and item 508 can display a video of aperson hugging another person. Another non-limiting example of displayedstate media items is illustrated in FIG. 5B, as discussed above inrelation to items 502 a-508 a.

In some embodiments, the listing of state media items can be scrollable.For example, utilizing the example in FIG. 5A, items 502-508 areinitially displayed; however, upon receiving input from the user, theitems can scroll either right or left revealing additional state mediaitems that represent additional emotional states. The number ofdisplayed and/or scrollable state media items can be based on settingsset by a user, administrator, video provider, network, and the like, orsome combination thereof. The scrolling can be responsive to any knownor to be known user input, such as, but not limited to, a touch input or“swipe” on a touch screen interface, a single or double click, a “force”touch satisfying a force threshold, looking at the displayed at leastone state media item, and the like.

In some embodiments, Steps 402-404 can be performed in a single stepwhere the initial set of video recommendations and state media items aredisplayed in the same computational iteration; and in some embodiments,Steps 402-404 can be performed in reverse order.

In Step 406, a user makes a selection of at least one displayed statemedia item. Such selection can be based on any type of known or to beknown user input, such as, but not limited to, a touch input on a touchscreen interface, a single or double click, a “force” touch satisfying aforce threshold, looking at the displayed at least one state media item,and the like. It should be understood by anyone of skill in the art thatany known or to be known user input designating a selection of at leastone interface element displayed on a UI (or scrolling through the statemedia items) can be utilized by the disclosed systems and methodswithout departing from the scope of the instant disclosure.

As a result of the selection in Step 406, Step 408 involvesautomatically performing a search of a video repository (e.g., database320) for video information. The search can also be performed acrossmultiple repositories operated by a single entity, or can berepositories operated by different entities, such as for example Hulu®,Netflix® and/or Amazon®. The search is based on the informationassociated with the selected at least one state media item. Step 408 isperformed by the search module 306. Thus the search, formatted in amanner known in the art, is formed so as to search for media itemshaving associated information that would identify the media item asresponsive to a search for a “happy” or “sad” movie, for example.

For purposes of this disclosure, reference will be made to only oneselected state media item; however, this should not be viewed aslimiting as the disclosed systems and methods performed respective toProcess 400 can be implemented utilizing a selection of multiple statemedia items (as discussed above in the non-limiting example respectiveto FIG. 5B).

Thus, Step 408 involves translating the information associated with theselected state media item(s) into an n-dimensional vector. That is, theselected state media item, for example, item 502 in FIG. 5A representing“happiness”, comprises information associated with the emotion“happiness.” Such information includes, but is not limited to, data andmetadata that provides indications that the context of the videodisplayed in item 502 corresponds to a “happy” emotional state. In someembodiments, the data and metadata can be provided from third parties,including, but not limited to, content providers, content generators,artists, advertisers, and the like. Such data and metadata, whileassociated with a third party, can be stored in database 320. In someembodiments, the data and metadata comprises a granular representation,which can be weighted, of the information associated with anemotional/mood state. According to some embodiments, this data andmetadata is translated into an n-dimensional vector, where the degreesof happiness and/or other related data corresponding to such emotionalstate are allocated as nodes on the vector.

The n-dimensional vector (also referred to as a feature vector) for theselected state media item (for example, item 502) is then utilized as abasis for searching the video repository—database 320. As discussedabove, according to some embodiments, the videos stored in therepository are stored and indexed as n-dimensional vectors. As such,Step 408 involves searching the database 320 by performing acomputerized comparison between the feature vector of the selected statemedia item and the n-dimensional vectors of the videos in database 320.Such comparison can be performed by any known or to be known vectorspace analysis and comparison technique, as those videos havingn-dimensional vectors matching the feature vector of the selected statemedia item at or above a similarity threshold are identified as a resultof Step 410.

It should be understood that while the discussion herein discussesvector analysis and comparison via n-dimensional vectors and/or featurevectors, any other known or to be known computational analysis and/orcomparison technique or algorithm can be utilized without departing fromthe scope of the instant disclosure, such as, but not limited to,cluster analysis, data mining, Bayesian network analysis, Hidden Markovmodels, artificial neural network analysis, logical model and/or treeanalysis, and the like.

Thus, as a result of Step 408, a recalibrated recommendation listing isdisplayed, which includes videos that were determined to correspond tothe selected state media item(s). Step 410, which is performed by thecalibration module 308. That is, according to some embodiments, theinitial set of video recommendations displayed in Step 402 is replacedwith the video information associated with videos having an emotionalsimilarity to the selected state media item(s). The emotional similarityis based on the vector/computational searching and/orcomputation/comparison analysis discussed above and performed in Step408 (e.g., those videos having feature vectors matching the featurevector of the selected state media item(s) at or above the similaritythreshold).

In some embodiments, the display of the identified videos involvesdisplaying those videos having the highest similarity to the selectedemotion atop the listing and displaying the videos with less similarityin a decreasing order. In some embodiments, the identified videos fromdatabase 320 that correspond to the selected emotional state (from Steps408-410) can be ranked and displayed in accordance with at least one ofthe popularity, quality and/or recency of each video—which can beperformed by the popularity module 302 and/or calibration module 308.

In some embodiments, Process 400 can then be fed back to Step 404, wherein line with the display of the recalibrated set of videorecommendations (from Step 410), another set of state media items can bedisplayed. This involves identifying a sub-state of the selected statemedia item. For example, if the user selected an emotion “adventure”from the initially displayed state media item set (Step 404), then afterdisplay of the “adventure” movie listing (Step 410), the user can thenbe presented with sub-state media items under the broad “adventure”state, which can include, for example, “action”, “mythology”,“animation” and “historical”. And, should Process recycle through Steps404-410 again, where for example, the user clicks on the sub-state item“action”, upon recalibrating the video listing to filter even further to“action” movies from within the scope of “adventure” movies, the usercan again be presented with another listing of state media items, whichcan fall under the “action” umbrella, and can include, for example“professional sports”, “action sports”, “winter sports” “car chases”,and the like.

This recursive process can continue until a user makes a selection fromthe recalibrated video recommendation set. Step 412, which includes adetermination as to whether a user has made a selection of a recommendedmedia item or a selection of a refined state media item. And, as aresult of such selection, the recommendation engine 300 enablesrendering of the video associated with the selected video item via anapplication capable of rendering the selected video. Step 414. Suchrendering can be enabled via a deep-linking feature, whereidentification that a user desires to render a video can instruct thecomputing device to open an application installed on the user's devicethat natively renders the identified video.

By way of another non-limiting example, utilizing FIG. 5A again as thebasis for the example, user Bob is presented with the scrollable listingof selectable state media items—item 502 displaying a looping video(i.e., GIF) of two people “high-fiving” which represents the emotion“happiness”; item 504 displaying a looping video of “rain against awindowpane” which can represent the emotion “sadness”; item 506displaying a looping video of a person “skiing” which can represent theemotion “adventure; and item 508 displaying a video of “an animation ofa heart being drawn” which can represent the emotion “love”.

User Bob clicks on item 508 which is then utilized as a search for videocontent. As discussed above, the information associated with the “love”emotion is translated into an n-dimensional vector which is thencompared against the n-dimensional vectors of the videos in database320. The videos having vectors matching the “love” vector at or above asimilarity threshold (or an emotional similarity) are identified andpresented to the user. In some embodiments, the identified videos can beranked according to similarity of emotion, popularity, quality and/orrecency of publication, such that a hierarchy of emotion similarity,popularity, quality and/or recency is evident from the display of theidentified videos.

As a result of the search, user Bob can be presented with a movielisting 510 identifying videos that correspond to the emotion “love”.For example, Bob can be presented with movies including “When Harry MetSally”, “Silver Linings Playbook”, “Sleepless in Seattle”, “Titanic”,“Ghost”, “Casablanca” “Father of the Bride” and “The Notebook”.

As discussed above, Bob can select one of these movies which can beplayed in an application installed on his device or in an applicationthat is executable on his device (e.g., a web-based application).However, should Bob desire to “dig deeper”, he can “refine his emotionalstate”. That is, in addition to being presented with videorecommendations associated with the emotion “love” (recalibratedrecommendation listing 510 from Step 410), he is also presented with arefined (or recalibrated) set of state media items (in portion 500 b ofUI 500). Since Bob selected “love” as his initial emotion, therecalibrated state media items will reference sub-states to “love.” Forexample, the media items 502-508 can now display looping videosrepresenting sub-states (or sub-emotions) of “love”, including forexample the emotions of “weddings”, “prom”, “children” and “divorce”,respectively. Therefore, if Bob selects, for example, the state item for“weddings” he will then be presented with a recalibrated videorecommendation listing 510 that includes movies not only associated withthe “love” emotion, but also those that are associated with “weddings.”The video listing 510 can continually be subject to recalibration (orrefinement) according to narrower emotions until Bob selects a video toview from a displayed recommendation listing 510.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, informationassociated with a user's detected state or input, customizedrecommendations, selections by a user, and the like, as discussed abovein relation to Process 400, can be fed back to the recommendation engine300 for modeling (or training) of the information stored in database 320via iterative or recursive bootstrapping or aggregation functionality.This can improve the accuracy of the identification of mediarecommendations presented to a specific user and/or other users on anetwork. Embodiments of the present disclosure involve therecommendation engine 300 applying such recursive/bootstrappingfunctions utilizing any known or to be known open source and/orcommercial software machine learning algorithm, technique or technology.

FIG. 6 is a work flow example 600 for serving relevant digital contentassociated with advertisements (e.g., advertisement content) based onthe information associated with the media recommendation, as discussedabove in relation to FIGS. 3-5B. Such information, referred to as“recommendation information” for reference purposes only, can include,but is not limited to, the state of a user, the identity, context and/ortype of media content being rendered and/or recommended, the content ofsuch media, and the like, and/or some combination thereof.

As discussed herein, reference to an “advertisement” should beunderstood to include, but not be limited to, digital content thatprovides information provided by another user, service, third party,entity, and the like. Such digital ad content can include any type ofmedia renderable by a computing device, including, but not limited to,video, text, audio, images, and/or any other type of known or to beknown multi-media. In some embodiments, the digital ad content can beformatted as hyperlinked multi-media content that provides deep-linkingfeatures and/or capabilities.

By way of a non-limiting example, work flow 600 includes a user beingrecommended media associated with the HBO® show “Game of Thrones”. Basedon such information, the user may be provided with digital ad contentrelated to special benefits HBO® users can receive, such as a freepromotional month of HBO® service. In another example, the user may beprovided with coupons for purchasing the show's recent season on DVDand/or the books from an affiliate book store based on the determinedcontent of the rendered video.

In Step 602, recommendation information associated with the mediarecommendation is identified. As discussed above, the recommendationinformation can be based on the recommendation process outlined abovewith respect to FIGS. 3-5B. For purposes of this disclosure, Process 600will refer to single media recommendation as the basis for serving anadvertisement(s); however, it should not be construed as limiting, asany number of recommendations, and/or quantities of information relatedto applications on a user device and/or media renderable via suchapplications can form such basis, without departing from the scope ofthe instant disclosure.

In Step 604, a context is determined based on the identifiedrecommendation information. This context forms a basis for servingadvertisements related to the recommendation information. In someembodiments, the context can be determined by determining a categorywhich the recommendation information of Step 602 represents. Forexample, the category can be related to the determined state of a user,as discussed above, or can be related to the content type of the mediabeing recommended, selected or rendered. In some embodiments, theidentification of the context from Step 604 can occur before, duringand/or after the analysis detailed above with respect to Process 400, orsome combination thereof.

In Step 606, the context (e.g., content/context data) is communicated(or shared) with an advertisement platform comprising an advertisementserver 130 and ad database. Upon receipt of the context, theadvertisement server 130 performs a search for a relevant advertisementwithin the associated ad database. The search for an advertisement isbased at least on the identified context.

In Step 608, the advertisement server 130 searches the ad database foran advertisement(s) that matches the identified context. In Step 610, anadvertisement is selected (or retrieved) based on the results of Step608. In some embodiments, the selected advertisement can be modified toconform to attributes of the page, message or method upon which theadvertisement will be displayed, and/or to the application and/or devicefor which it will be displayed. In some embodiments, the selectedadvertisement is shared or communicated via the application the user isutilizing to render the media (e.g., HBO® from the above example). Step612. In some embodiments, the selected advertisement is sent directly toeach user's computing device. In some embodiments, the selectedadvertisement is displayed in conjunction with the rendered and/orrecommended media on the user's device and/or within the applicationbeing used to recommend and/or render the media.

As shown in FIG. 7, internal architecture 700 of a computing device(s),computing system, computing platform and the like includes one or moreprocessing units, processors, or processing cores, (also referred toherein as CPUs) 712, which interface with at least one computer bus 702.Also interfacing with computer bus 702 are computer-readable medium, ormedia, 706, network interface 714, memory 704, e.g., random accessmemory (RAM), run-time transient memory, read only memory (ROM), mediadisk drive interface 720 as an interface for a drive that can readand/or write to media including removable media such as floppy, CD-ROM,DVD, media, display interface 710 as interface for a monitor or otherdisplay device, keyboard interface 716 as interface for a keyboard,pointing device interface 718 as an interface for a mouse or otherpointing device, and miscellaneous other interfaces not shownindividually, such as parallel and serial port interfaces and auniversal serial bus (USB) interface.

Memory 704 interfaces with computer bus 702 so as to provide informationstored in memory 704 to CPU 712 during execution of software programssuch as an operating system, application programs, device drivers, andsoftware modules that comprise program code, and/or computer executableprocess steps, incorporating functionality described herein, e.g., oneor more of process flows described herein. CPU 712 first loads computerexecutable process steps from storage, e.g., memory 704, computerreadable storage medium/media 706, removable media drive, and/or otherstorage device. CPU 712 can then execute the stored process steps inorder to execute the loaded computer-executable process steps. Storeddata, e.g., data stored by a storage device, can be accessed by CPU 712during the execution of computer-executable process steps.

Persistent storage, e.g., medium/media 706, can be used to store anoperating system and one or more application programs. Persistentstorage can also be used to store device drivers, such as one or more ofa digital camera driver, monitor driver, printer driver, scanner driver,or other device drivers, web pages, content files, playlists and otherfiles. Persistent storage can further include program modules and datafiles used to implement one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure, e.g., listing selection module(s), targeting informationcollection module(s), and listing notification module(s), thefunctionality and use of which in the implementation of the presentdisclosure are discussed in detail herein.

Network link 728 typically provides information communication usingtransmission media through one or more networks to other devices thatuse or process the information. For example, network link 728 mayprovide a connection through local network 724 to a host computer 726 orto equipment operated by a Network or Internet Service Provider (ISP)730. ISP equipment in turn provides data communication services throughthe public, worldwide packet-switching communication network of networksnow commonly referred to as the Internet 732.

A computer called a server host 734 connected to the Internet 732 hostsa process that provides a service in response to information receivedover the Internet 732. For example, server host 734 hosts a process thatprovides information representing video data for presentation at display710. It is contemplated that the components of system 700 can bedeployed in various configurations within other computer systems, e.g.,host and server.

At least some embodiments of the present disclosure are related to theuse of computer system 700 for implementing some or all of thetechniques described herein. According to one embodiment, thosetechniques are performed by computer system 700 in response toprocessing unit 712 executing one or more sequences of one or moreprocessor instructions contained in memory 704. Such instructions, alsocalled computer instructions, software and program code, may be readinto memory 704 from another computer-readable medium 706 such asstorage device or network link. Execution of the sequences ofinstructions contained in memory 704 causes processing unit 712 toperform one or more of the method steps described herein. In alternativeembodiments, hardware, such as ASIC, may be used in place of or incombination with software. Thus, embodiments of the present disclosureare not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software,unless otherwise explicitly stated herein.

The signals transmitted over network link and other networks throughcommunications interface, carry information to and from computer system700. Computer system 700 can send and receive information, includingprogram code, through the networks, among others, through network linkand communications interface. In an example using the Internet, a serverhost transmits program code for a particular application, requested by amessage sent from computer, through Internet, ISP equipment, localnetwork and communications interface. The received code may be executedby processor 702 as it is received, or may be stored in memory 704 or instorage device or other non-volatile storage for later execution, orboth.

For the purposes of this disclosure a module is a software, hardware, orfirmware (or combinations thereof) system, process or functionality, orcomponent thereof, that performs or facilitates the processes, features,and/or functions described herein (with or without human interaction oraugmentation). A module can include sub-modules. Software components ofa module may be stored on a computer readable medium for execution by aprocessor. Modules may be integral to one or more servers, or be loadedand executed by one or more servers. One or more modules may be groupedinto an engine or an application.

For the purposes of this disclosure the term “user”, “subscriber”“consumer” or “customer” should be understood to refer to a user of anapplication or applications as described herein and/or a consumer ofdata supplied by a data provider. By way of example, and not limitation,the term “user” or “subscriber” can refer to a person who receives dataprovided by the data or service provider over the Internet in a browsersession, or can refer to an automated software application whichreceives the data and stores or processes the data.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the methods and systems ofthe present disclosure may be implemented in many manners and as suchare not to be limited by the foregoing exemplary embodiments andexamples. In other words, functional elements being performed by singleor multiple components, in various combinations of hardware and softwareor firmware, and individual functions, may be distributed among softwareapplications at either the client level or server level or both. In thisregard, any number of the features of the different embodimentsdescribed herein may be combined into single or multiple embodiments,and alternate embodiments having fewer than, or more than, all of thefeatures described herein are possible.

Functionality may also be, in whole or in part, distributed amongmultiple components, in manners now known or to become known. Thus,myriad software/hardware/firmware combinations are possible in achievingthe functions, features, interfaces and preferences described herein.Moreover, the scope of the present disclosure covers conventionallyknown manners for carrying out the described features and functions andinterfaces, as well as those variations and modifications that may bemade to the hardware or software or firmware components described hereinas would be understood by those skilled in the art now and hereafter.

Furthermore, the embodiments of methods presented and described asflowcharts in this disclosure are provided by way of example in order toprovide a more complete understanding of the technology. The disclosedmethods are not limited to the operations and logical flow presentedherein. Alternative embodiments are contemplated in which the order ofthe various operations is altered and in which sub-operations describedas being part of a larger operation are performed independently.

While various embodiments have been described for purposes of thisdisclosure, such embodiments should not be deemed to limit the teachingof this disclosure to those embodiments. Various changes andmodifications may be made to the elements and operations described aboveto obtain a result that remains within the scope of the systems andprocesses described in this disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising the steps of: displaying, ona display of a computing device within a first portion of a displayeduser interface (UI), a first set of state media items, each state mediaitem visibly displaying content associated with a human mood; receiving,at the computing device from a user, a selection of a state media itemfrom said first state media item set; determining, via the computingdevice, a feature vector for the selected state media item, said featurevector comprising an n-dimensional vector representing the mood content;communicating, via the computing device, a search request for media to amedia repository based on the determined feature vector, wherein saidfeature vector is comprised in a search term for identifying mediaassociated with the user within said media repository; receiving, at thecomputing device, a search result comprising media informationassociated with user; compiling, via the computing device, a media itempresentation based on the search result; and displaying, by thecomputing device, said media item presentation in a second portion ofthe UI.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a setof sub-states of mood from the mood associated with the selected statemedia item; and displaying, within the first portion of the UI, a secondset of state media items, each second state media item visiblydisplaying content associated with a mood sub-state from the sub-stateset.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: receiving a secondselection corresponding to a second state media item from the second setof state media items; communicating a second search request for media tothe media repository based on the selected second state media item,wherein said search request comprises instructions for identifying mediawithin the media repository related to the mood associated with theselected second state media item; receiving a second search resultcomprising identified media information from the second search requestcompiling a second media item presentation based on the second searchresult; and displaying said second media item presentation in the secondportion of the UI.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said media in themedia repository is stored and indexed as n-dimensional vectors, whereinsaid identified media is based on a determination that the featurevector and n-dimensional vectors of the identified media match at orabove a similarity threshold.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving a second selection from the user identifying mediafrom said displayed media item presentation, said selection comprisinginstructions for said computing device to render selected media.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein said display of the first set of state mediaitems comprises: receiving a request for video recommendations, saidrequest based on user input indicating the user's intent to view mediarecommendations; and displaying said first set of state media itemsbased on said request.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said contentvisibly displayed within each state media item comprises looping videocontent associated with a respective human mood.
 8. The method of claim1, wherein said first set of state media items are determined based oninformation selected from a group consisting of: popularity, quality andrecency.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said first set of state mediaitems further comprises additional state media items that are notinitially displayed in the first portion of the UI.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, further comprising: receiving, from the user, input instructingthe first set of state media items to scroll horizontally in order toreveal the additional state media items within the first portion of theUI.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein said steps are performed by anapplication installed and executing on the computing device, saidexecution of the application resulting in display of the UI.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: determining a context of theselected state media item; causing communication, over the network, ofsaid context to an advertisement platform to obtain digitaladvertisement content associated with said context; and communicatingsaid identified digital advertisement content in association with thedisplay of the media item presentation.
 13. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium tangibly encoded withcomputer-executable instructions, that when executed by a processorassociated with a computing device, performs a method comprising:displaying, within a first portion of a displayed user interface (UI), afirst set of state media items, each state media item visibly displayingcontent associated with a human mood; receiving, from a user, aselection of a state media item from said first state media item set;determining a feature vector for the selected state media item, saidfeature vector comprising an n-dimensional vector representing the moodcontent; communicating a search request for media to a media repositorybased on the determined feature vector, wherein said feature vector iscomprised in a search term for identifying media associated with theuser within said media repository; receiving a search result comprisingmedia information associated with user compiling a media itempresentation based on the search result; and displaying said media itempresentation in a second portion of the UI.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 13, further comprising:determining a set of sub-states of mood from the mood associated withthe selected state media item; and displaying, within the first portionof the UI, a second set of state media items, each second state mediaitem visibly displaying content associated with a mood sub-state fromthe sub-state set.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 14, further comprising: receiving a second selectioncorresponding to a second state media item from the second set of statemedia items; communicating a second search request for media to themedia repository based on the selected second state media item, whereinsaid search request comprises instructions for identifying media withinthe media repository related to the mood associated with the selectedsecond state media item; receiving a second search result comprisingidentified media information from the second search request; compiling asecond media item presentation based on the second search result; anddisplaying said second media item presentation in the second portion ofthe UI.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim13, wherein said media in the media repository is stored and indexed asn-dimensional vectors, wherein said identified media is based on adetermination that the feature vector and n-dimensional vectors of theidentified media match at or above a similarity threshold.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, furthercomprising: receiving a second selection from the user identifying mediafrom said displayed media item presentation, said selection comprisinginstructions for said computing device to render selected media.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, whereinsaid content visibly displayed within each state media item compriseslooping video content associated with a respective human mood.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, whereinsaid first set of state media items further comprises additional statemedia items that are not initially displayed in the first portion of theUI, wherein the method further comprises receiving, from the user, inputinstructing the first set of state media items to scroll horizontally inorder to reveal the additional state media items within the firstportion of the UI.
 20. A system comprising: a processor; anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium for tangibly storingthereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logiccomprising: display logic executed by the processor for displaying,within a first portion of a displayed user interface (UI), a first setof state media items, each state media item visibly displaying contentassociated with a human mood; receiving logic executed by the processorfor receiving, from a user, a selection of a state media item from saidfirst state media item set; determination logic executed by theprocessor for determining a feature vector for the selected state mediaitem, said feature vector comprising an n-dimensional vectorrepresenting the mood content; communication logic executed by theprocessor for communicating a search request for media to a mediarepository based on the determined feature vector, wherein said featurevector is comprised in a search term for identifying media associatedwith the user within said media repository; receiving logic executed bythe processor for receiving a search result comprising media informationassociated with user compiling logic executed by the processor forcompiling a media item presentation based on the search result; anddisplay logic executed by the processor for displaying said media itempresentation in a second portion of the UI.